Gay Couples Are As Happy, If Not Happier, Than Straight Couples, Study Finds

By

On Top Magazine Staff

|
December 18, 2017

According to a new study released last
week, gay and lesbian couples are as happy as, if not happier than,
straight couples.

Researchers questioned 25,000 people in
the United Kingdom and over 9,000 in Australia. The data was
collected before either country had marriage equality.

“Our results indicate that the
relationship quality of gay and lesbian couples is as high as, if not
higher than, that of heterosexual couples,” the researchers wrote.
“This can be taken as evidence that gay and lesbian couples are
well placed to raise children in warm and loving environments.”

The
study, titled Sexual Identity and Relationship Quality in
Australia and the United Kingdom, was conducted by Francisco
Perales and Janeen Baxter from the University of Queensland.

“Policy initiatives that raise
awareness about the equally high quality of the intimate
relationships of gay and lesbian individuals are needed to combat
deep-rooted and erroneous social perceptions of such relationships as
conflictual, unhappy and dysfunctional,” they wrote.

The researchers concluded that their
findings “support policies that seek to legalize same-sex marriage
and parenting rights” and “highlight the need to give further
attention to bisexual individuals as a distinct group because their
outcomes are comparatively poor.”